Tears & Truths
by anewsgirl
Summary: Chouji comforts Ino and makes her confront the truth about her former crush. Is there something more for them on the horizon than just friendship? Spoilers for the latest chapter. Chouji's POV
1. A Conversation

How far she come since their days at the Academy? Her progress far surpassed his own. She was a top kunoichi, a botanist and a medic. She excelled at the techniques of her clan. These accomplishments made her a worthy rival of the fifth Hokage's apprentice. Yet to Chouji she was more than that.

She was a good teammate and friend. Someone who he could rely on when times got tough. When the Third died and when their sensei Asuma had been killed she was at his side. She was one of his closest friends. However, he was not sure what he could do for her now.

The news of the decision of most of their friends to execute that traitor, Sasuke Uchiha, had shaken her. Despite the number of years that had passed since his betrayal of the village, Ino still had some feelings for him. He wondered how strong those feelings were and how they could still exist. They had not been mutual; the Uchiha had overlooked her completely. He wondered if her reaction had something to do with her best friend and rival, Sakura, who had truly loved that traitor. Any answer that did not confirm her lingering feelings for him.

The sound of her cying brought him out of his pensive state. Her eyes were red; tears ran down her cheeks. Protectively he wrapped his arm around her bare shoulders and pulled her closer.

"Ino," he said, looking her in the eyes to express his question without words. Noticing the signal, she replied, "Why did it come to this?" She put her head on his shoulder.

"You know as well as I do," he answered plainly. He then added, "Any other missing-nin would have been disposed of by now, especially one who is recognized as an international criminal."

"He isn't any other missing-nin. He's someone from our class at the Academy, who took the Chunin exams for the first time with us, who grieved with us at the Third's funeral, who cared deeply for his teammates." Her argument was one he could not deny; everything she had just said was true. However, they applied only to the person he had been four years ago.

"That Sasuke doesn't exist anymore. I realized it after the retrival mission. Did Sakura tell you what happened on their first mission with Sai? Sasuke tried to kill Naruto!" His voice shook from anger. An expression of shock crossed Ino's face.

"How did you know that? Sakura said it was classified when she told me." He laughed. "Naruto told me."

"Still it seems almost wrong that we're going to have to kill one of our own," she said. Her loyalty to fellow shinobi ran deep, even when it was undeserved.

"This life is full of tough choices. Iruka-sensei taught us that. Asuma-sensei told us to depend on each other in those hard times," he replied. He then decided to take a risk.

"Depend on me," he told her. Blue eyes met dark ones.

"I always have," she replied. She then pulled him into a hug. He held her as she whispered in his ear "You're the strongest person I know."


	2. Confessions

_"Depend on me," he told her. Blue eyes met dark ones._

_"I always have," she replied. She then pulled him into a hug. He held her as she whispered in his ear "You're the strongest person I know."_

Her words were simple, but they expressed more than just what she had said. Ino was not the type to waste words nor did she flatter needlessly. Part of her reputation as a kunoichi came from her sharp tounge. Maybe, just maybe she felt something for him. Chouji broke from their embrace.

"If I'm so strong, why couldn't I save Sasuke all those years ago? Why couldn't I save Asuma-sensei?" He hadn't meant to ask those questions; his own doubt had gotten the better of him. Seeing the doubt reflected in his eyes, she decided to answer the best way she could.

"You can't save someone who doesn't want to be saved. In my training as a medic, I was taught that the patient's will is the most important factor. Shinobi almost always want to survive to see through their missions through." She paused.

"However, working at the hospital is different, especially in the case of serious illnesses. The individual will of the patient is more important than our skill as medics. It was the same with Sasuke. He didn't want to be saved; so you could not save him." His eyes widened in awknowledgement of what she had just said.

"As for Asuma-sensei, there was nothing we could have done. He sacrificed himself to save his teammates, to save Shikamaru." Chouji nodded in agreement.

"How is it you always know what I need to hear," he asked. She smiled.

"You're one of my closest friends and my teammate. If I didn't know what to say to you after knowing you this long, it'd be unbelievable." She then whispered in his ear, "However some things are best expressed without words." She wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her head on his shoulder once again.

In response he placed his arms around her. His only thoughts were of the woman before him. When had the girl he had known most of his life grown so much? How had he not noticed? He then decided to take another risk.

"Are we just close friends and teammates," he asked her. He could not believe he had asked the one question he should not have even thought. Ino had feelings for Sasuke. She had flirted with Sai in front of him mere months ago.

"Since when have we never been just that," she asked in reply. Instead of responding verbally, she kissed him.

He felt as if his heart was soaring like a butterfly just out of its cocoon. Without thinking, he responded with a passion that he had never known himself to be capable of before. Suddenly an answer did not seem so important anymore because she had once again told him without words.

"I don't know how we should refer to ourselves right now," Ino stated. "It's too complicated already to try to sort things out." He agreed. The path ahead of them and their fellow shinobi was too murky right now to worry about silly things; to change the nature of their relationship now was too risky.

"Just let me tell you one thing then," he told her. "I love you, Ino." She gasped at his boldness; never had she imagined he would say that of all things so abruptly. She whispered in his ear "I love you too, Chouji."


End file.
